Helston Athletic’s hard-earned point at home to South West Peninsula League Premier high-flyers Tavistock on Saturday was a sure sign of progress in the Blues camp.

Helston’s track record against the Devonians has not made for good reading. The Blues suffered 4-0 defeats to the Lambs in both league games last season and were thrashed 10-1 the season before, plus a 3-1 reverse in their FA Vase clash in September.

But Ryan Chinn and Scott Beattie’s goals ensured a creditable 2-2 draw when the teams met at Kellaway Park on Saturday, a feat made all the more impressive given that the Blues were two goals down.

Manager Steve Massey said: “I would say for the first half hour Tavvy looked like a team that was going for the title, we looked under pressure.

“For the last 60 minutes we were fantastic, absolutely fantastic, and if anybody coming that arrived, particularly in the second half and you said, ‘one team is going for the title and the other is mid-table’, you wouldn’t have picked the teams, and it was great credit to them.”

Massey was also keen to highlight the efforts of the experienced trio of captain Kirk Davies, goalkeeper Barrie Wyatt and midfielder Jamie Thirkle, in light of the recent praise for the progress of the club’s young players.

He said: “I must admit three senior players played their part. Barrie in goal made some great saves, Kirk Davies keeps rolling back the years but Jamie Thirkle as well, he was sensational, particularly in the second half.

“While we’re shouting all the praises about the young boys, my three senior players were excellent, they really were.”

Next up for Helston is a trip to Callington Town this Saturday, a side who are battling at the other end of the table.

While it is a much more winnable game on paper, the Blues have struggled to follow up good results with another one against a lesser fancied side in recent months.

“I must take my own advice to be perfectly honest,” Massey said. “I tell people that these youngsters are going to lift us up and down and there’ll be a few more downs yet before we have the great lifts.

“When these downs do appear I’ve just got to be a bit more pragmatic about it and just a bit more sensible about it, but definitely we’ve got to build on that now.”